1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing method and printing apparatus for accurately positioning an image on a recording medium by determining end positions of an image with respect to the recording medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image printer such as a type used in an electronic word processor which accurately positions an image to be printed onto a recording medium by determining the image size with respect to the recording medium size, and performs a locating operation of a left end and a locating operation of a right end of the image with respect to the recording medium prior to a print operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Precise positioning of printed images such as illustrations and logos is desirable so that the overall impression made by those images, such as on Christmas cards and labels, is pleasing. But conventional printing systems which utilize on-line printers such as dot matrix or ink jet printers are ill-equipped to position an image to be printed onto a recording medium because preset coordinates of a printer do not allow for precise positioning of images or text onto the recording medium. Thus, conventional printing systems do not allow for precise image positioning.
Recently, however, word processing systems have been developed in which an operator utilizing the word processing system can designate image coordinates based on a computer-generated display of a recording medium with an overlayed image to be printed. That is, an image to be printed can be overlaid on an image of a recording medium to determine the correct positioning of the image. The operator performs this operation by utilizing a pointing device such as a cursor or a mouse to manipulate an image onto a displayed recording medium.
In spite of these developments, the displayed images are not accurately positioned since coordinate data of the display frequently deviates from the actual print position of a printing head with respect to the recording medium. Thus, precise positioning of an image onto a recording medium of a similar size is still not easily performed.
Other solutions to resolve inaccurate positioning of an image or text on a recording medium are time-consuming and costly. For example, it has been considered to provide visual confirmation of a printing position on a recording medium by physical manipulation of the printing head for each designated point of an image within the recording medium, or to provide an operator determination of a size of the image and that of the recording medium by performing various calculating operations. Both are very time-consuming operations and are inefficient.
Heretofore, it has not been possible to position accurately an image onto a recording medium both quickly and accurately utilizing conventional methods. Consequently, images are often improperly printed on the recording medium.